flat-footed: does your shield bonus to AC apply?

[Thanee]

Yeah, I think the +2 AC for the large shield is pretty low, realistically speaking, especially if you fight only one opponent.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darklone]

Yeah, I think the +2 AC for the large shield is pretty low, realistically speaking, especially if you fight only one opponent.

Eeks! Realism alert!

IMHO it's not. I've seen shieldarms break even in buffer weapon battles...

 

[Nail]

I've seen shieldarms break even in buffer weapon battles...

Yup.

The rules alternative wouldn't give you much, in terms of playablility. Too much work for too little pay off.

If you have a hankerin' fer changin' rules, start with psionics.....

 

[Aaron2]

IMHO it's not. I've seen shieldarms break even in buffer weapon battles...

How much padding did the shield have? What about a shield with a central handgrip like a Roman Scutum?


Aaron

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

IMHO it's not. I've seen shieldarms break even in buffer weapon battles...

Sure. But things like that can be expected to happen to amateurs a lot more than the pros. I would bet that someone who spent ~2 hours a day from age 11 to 21 training with his shield would know to avoid letting the blow land square and be skillful at the same.

 

[Saeviomagy]

My point was, that in D&D terms a shield is giving you half the AC bonus of taking cover (or full if you use a tower shield) which says to me that it's not being used actively.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

My point was, that in D&D terms a shield is giving you half the AC bonus of taking cover (or full if you use a tower shield) which says to me that it's not being used actively.

Exactly. An actively used shield by someone with proficiency should be +4 at absolute minimum. Possibly much, much higher when fighting a single opponent.

But that would break the AC scaling we have so badly that it is really not worth the trouble for the sake of mere realism.

 

[Darklone]

Sure. But things like that can be expected to happen to amateurs a lot more than the pros. I would bet that someone who spent ~2 hours a day from age 11 to 21 training with his shield would know to avoid letting the blow land square and be skillful at the same.

OT: Aaron2: Broken wrists happened with these small shields now and then as well... and the opponents didn't even use tactics common against shieldbearers which were meant to hurt the shieldarm/hand. Shield was made from wood and padded.

 

[Aaron2]

OT: Aaron2: Broken wrists happened with these small shields now and then as well... and the opponents didn't even use tactics common against shieldbearers which were meant to hurt the shieldarm/hand. Shield was made from wood and padded.

I'm not sure I'm buying this line of reasoning. If central handgrip-type shield were prone to wrist breakage, the Romans wouldn't have used them for over a thousand years. Neither would the Celts, Gauls, Vikings etc. Same is true for a shield that routinely broke lances before the bearer's forearm.


Aaron

 

[Droid101]

Why is it unrealistic to keep my sheild AC? I don't have to be moving to have a large sheild blocking over half my body. Why would this be lost if you were flat-footed?